Who is spreading rumors that my filial piety towards them has changed?

Having made up his mind, he cast a concerned and understanding look at Xiao Zhi and said:

“Xiao Zhi, you must have had a hard time managing all the affairs of Xiling while I was away. I can understand... You must have suffered a lot of grievances because you were forced to protect your power, but it doesn’t matter. I can understand your difficulties. No matter what, you still managed to protect Xiling from all the pressure.”

—Of course, such words are false. He just wants to use his power, "emotion," and strength to persuade Xiao Zhi to leave Chu Mingkong's embrace. He will show his current power in a moment, make Xiao Zhi understand who she should follow if she wants to live, force her to leave Chu Mingkong, and slap Chu Mingkong hard in the face!

—Then he pushed Xiao Zhi away as well, discarding her with disdain, humiliating her as a slut!

Though his heart was churning with anger, the old King of Chu continued to speak to Xiao Zhi with feigned sympathy and pity:

"Xiao Zhi, do you know what I've been doing all these years I've disappeared? I've seen a lot. There are other realms outside, and there's the land of immortals, the Heavenly Realm!"

When all that happens, when the people of the Heavenly Realm descend, everything here will become insignificant. Even now, Buddhism is far superior to these sects. Do you even know how many Bodhisattvas, Arhats, and Vajras there are?

"And the reason I came back this time is to take you, Xiao Zhi, away!"

But Xiao Zhi ignored him, and listened to the old King of Chu's endless ramblings with nothing more than annoyance and a frown.

The old King of Chu was still in no hurry. He knew that words alone would not convince Xiao Zhi. She was a shrewd woman, and Chu Mingkong's infamous reputation for ruthless killing would likely make Xiao Zhi trust him even more.

A middle-aged man with slightly graying temples and a somewhat heroic air stood there, a confident smile playing on his lips.

This smile looked quite familiar. Upon closer inspection, it was Xiao Fengnan, the old King of Chu's son, who was long past his prime. He often wore this smile, having learned it from his father.

Suddenly, a dense, oppressive green wood spirit energy condensed in the old King Chu's palm. The purity of this spirit energy far exceeded what was usually seen. The spirit energy spontaneously swirled into the shape of a ferocious python-like vine, within which a faint, extremely yin aura lingered.

The appearance of this wood spirit affected everything in the room related to trees; vines broke through the paint and grew on the beams, door frames, tables, and other items.

"Xiao Zhi, did you see it? Did you feel it? Although you are a woman and have never fought, you still have cultivation. You should understand how great my power is right now, how it makes cultivators tremble! Can Chu Mingkong give you this kind of pressure?"

To be honest, this is the cultivation of the divine soul, a realm of cultivation that transcends generations! A realm that Chu Mingkong cannot even reach. Do you think he's just relying on that little bit of Yin power to kill chickens and ducks, a truly invincible achievement? Foolish! I wouldn't even bother mentioning defeating someone like the Heavenly Emperor!

"Come here, Xiao Zhi. I've made some progress in Buddhism now, and I can introduce you to the sect. I can also invite Yunhan to join you as a disciple!"

Chu Mingkong's face darkened. He had originally intended to watch his godfather make a fool of himself, but he was still somewhat angry...

Does he think that others don't know what Shejia means or what it does?

Does he genuinely believe that sending his wife and daughters to become Shejia is an honor, or is he just saying it to fool and mock Xiao Zhi and Yun Han?

Chu Mingkong said sarcastically:

"How can anyone still treasure a fourth or fifth-level soul cultivation? Yunhan just opened up her soul realm and started at the third level. You're just a fifth-level wretch who's not even stable yet, and you're still so proud of yourself."

"But you're right, always using regicide as a means of gaining fame is indeed immoral and unpleasant. So let's just kill the adoptive father who wanted to send his wife and daughters to become Sheka's."

The old King Chu frowned in confusion: "Yun Han has opened up the Divine Soul Realm? What nonsense! Unless her master passed on his skills to her, how could she possibly open up the Divine Soul Realm? Is she trying to show off her cleverness in front of me and make me a laughingstock?"

Without a word, Chu Mingkong took out the Moon Eclipse Heavy Sword. He did not display any power, but simply put his arm around the Queen Mother Mei. However, the vines that grew out of the house were burned to ashes by the invisible flames.

The vines that sprouted from the wood elemental energy of the Divine Soul realm turned to ashes in an instant, like withered grass meeting a raging fire.

This is a crushing defeat!

The old King of Chu immediately sensed something was wrong: "You actually managed to cultivate your divine soul?!"

No, we need to leave here quickly and spread the word. The Buddhist sect still thinks he has no spiritual cultivation!

Chapter 221 Stewing and Killing

The cultivation level that Chu Mingkong displayed was no longer a story worth reporting to the old King Chu; it was a real incident!

People in Buddhism have long discussed how to further enhance the power of extreme yin, and whether it can extend into the realm of the soul, but the result is no.

Therefore, apart from Xue Zhongjun, none of those people really paid attention to Chu Mingkong... Well, it's not that none of them did, since the use of extreme Yin power was a novel thing, but its future prospects were not optimistic.

Once the gap in the Divine Soul Realm widens, the disadvantage will only become more and more obvious in the future. However, Chu Mingkong, who lives in Xiling and is located in a corner of the world, has secretly opened up his Divine Soul cultivation!

He immediately clasped his hands together in front of him, and golden light emanated from his body. The golden light depicted Sanskrit characters, which, representing the supernatural powers of Buddhism, were woven into a golden bell, guarding the old King of Chu.

"Oh? Neither I nor my baby need to wear a diaper, so why did you put yourself inside the diaper?"

"Ignorance! This is the Prajna Golden Bell Shield!"

Hidden within the transparent golden bell-shaped shield, the old King of Chu unleashed a divine power in his fists, alternating between punches and palm strikes against the Sanskrit characters on the shield. The Sanskrit characters transformed into a gigantic fist and palm print, as solid as Vajra, which shattered the reinforced buildings even before the force arrived.

The old King of Chu struck the golden bell with alternating fists and palms, his large fists and palm prints striking out in turn.

"What's wrong with you? Your fist technique was like this last time I saw you, and it's still like this now. Is this all the progress you've made after taking my essence blood?" Chu Mingkong stopped standing behind Xiao Zhi and stood in front of the beautiful Queen Mother, wielding his ancient and heavy greatsword to slash at her.

Once the sword was drawn, it was like a raging fire sweeping across a barren plain. The palm prints and fists that were cleaved were then attached to the extremely yin fire spiritual energy, burning and corroding them until nothing remained.

The sword struck the tortoise-shell-like golden bell cover with a resounding, deafening sound that seemed to echo throughout the universe. Birds within a hundred miles were startled and birds flew away, and passersby suffered from ringing and earache.

The old King of Chu's body was also numb from the shock, but his speech remained sharp: "Not so good, you brat! It seems you still don't understand the strength of my Prajna Golden Bell Shield!"

Chu Mingkong scoffed: "It's not over yet!"

On the sword strike Chu Mingkong had just unleashed, a phantom of the Mysterious Maiden suddenly appeared, gracefully adding a move of the Mysterious Maiden Sword Technique. Then, a phantom of Zuo Qiuchi's sword intent appeared, a silent and indifferent phantom, possessing an even more elegant and proud demeanor than the real Zuo Qiuchi, adding a move of the Giant Immortal Falling Sword to the Golden Bell Shield.

With one sword strike, he unleashed three strikes in one exchange. In just one exchange, the Golden Bell Shield was riddled with cracks, clearly unable to withstand Chu Mingkong's second sword strike!

The old King of Chu's expression changed slightly. He had never heard of such a sword technique before. He dared not delay, and with his fists clasped together, he struck the Golden Bell Cover first.

"Striking an ox across the mountain!" Under the blessing of the old Chu King's holy fist intent, the shattered golden bell shield transformed into a giant Vajra divine ox the size of a palace, its horns gleaming with a cold light, and shot towards Chu Mingkong.

"Can this old bull defeat me, the Minotaur?" Chu Mingkong used one sword as three, easily shattering the divine bull.

The old King of Chu actually wanted to take advantage of the moment when Chu Mingkong was dealing with the divine ox to escape!

When Chu Mingkong looked over, he had already flown a hundred meters into the air, not looking back and only thinking about running.

But Chu Mingkong would no longer let him live freely. When the old King Chu of the capital transferred his soul into the body of the Emperor of Tianji, he had already spared him for a while because of such laughable favors as the position of heir apparent. Now that he had run back, there was no longer any talk of favors.

"Lower your head, or you'll bump into something." Chu Mingkong took out a talisman, and the talisman spontaneously combusted.

In an instant, this place was surrounded by huge talismans. The old King of Chu refused to believe it and tried to break through with Buddhist supernatural powers, but he was pushed back and his spiritual veins were shaken to their core.

During the retreat, Old Chu had tried to contact the Buddhist Pure Land, but unfortunately, the message could not be transmitted through the talisman's encirclement.

"Your voice is loud, louder than your fist. Do you have any other skills? What about your spiritual abilities? If not, then this is it." Chu Mingkong still had the habit of striking before speaking. Before he could finish speaking, his heavy sword had already slashed towards the middle-aged man's head.

"A thousand lamps illuminate the Buddha, shining brightly in serene stillness!"

The old King of Chu sat cross-legged, appearing as if in a state of enlightenment and nirvana. Behind him appeared thousands of Buddhist candles and lamps, surrounded by a thousand lamps, faintly showing the potential to break the talisman array of this place and turn it into his own Daoist domain.

Furthermore, an image of a high monk meditating and striking a wooden fish appeared on his body, as if an invisible Buddha statue was protecting him. The high monk Buddha statue was in the center of a thousand lamps, and the flame of the thousand lamps never went out, so the person in the center was never lonely.

Chu Mingkong did not act rashly, trying to figure out what kind of move this was, but he quickly understood that it was another tortoise shell move, protecting the old King Chu himself inside the Buddha statue, and it even had a faint tendency to become a Dharma realm.

Fortunately, the old King of Chu did not have enough affinity with Buddhism to cultivate a true Dharma realm.

Now, he wants to use this method to break through Yun Nongyu's talisman array and escape, or at least pass on the intelligence to the Buddhist sect.

"You're quite capable. You just got yourself covered by the Golden Bell Shield, and now you've found a Buddha statue to cover yourself with."

Just as Chu Mingkong was preparing to continue breaking the formation, the old King Chu unleashed a curse killing technique within the Buddha statue. The extremely yin power, which was difficult for ordinary people to detect, was like a venomous snake crawling towards Xiao Zhi behind him, its fangs trying to bite Xiao Zhi with the curse.

Chu Mingkong's heart tightened; he realized the old King Chu's scheme.

Unable to do anything to Chu Mingkong, he thought of using Xiao Zhi as a target, so that Chu Mingkong would turn his attention to protecting Xiao Zhi, while he himself could take the opportunity to use the "Thousand Lamps Reflecting the Buddha" technique to break the talisman array.

Just then, a chilling aura suddenly condensed, and the ice crystal shackles instantly locked the poisonous serpent. Although the extreme yin energy was eroding the shackles, it was far less effective than the shackles' own recovery speed.

Xiao Yunhan appeared here and stood beside her mother, Xiao Zhi, protecting her.

"Yunhan, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be protecting Qingxin Mansion?" Chu Mingkong breathed a sigh of relief, but was also surprised.

"There's no enemy activity at home, and Yuehe is protecting us. I informed Master Yun and then came over." The aloof woman with snow-white hair stood there calmly, like a celestial being descended from heaven, showing no pity or help for her biological father.

"I see..."

Chu Mingkong's mood was somewhat complicated. He spat a mouthful of blood onto the poisonous snake, and the old King Chu's extreme Yin power was instantly annihilated.

Then, the extremely yin flames in his palm struck the old Chu King's Buddha statue from afar. The flames were unable to break through the Buddha statue for a while, but the heat could be transmitted into the Buddha statue.

Perhaps before the Buddha statue shattered, the old King Chu, such a great cultivator, would have been humiliatingly roasted to death.

Going out means being surrounded and killed, with no chance of survival; staying in means enduring torment until death, with little hope of survival.

In this state, the old King of Chu became somewhat delirious. He took out all his spiritual treasures and desperately tried to maintain the Buddha statue's protection over him, or perhaps he was trying to isolate the heat that the extreme yin energy was secretly transmitting.

With no way to break the deadlock, he could only vent his anger and resentment through words, fueled by his previous humiliation!

"You unfilial son, you still treat that woman Xiao Zhi like a treasure? I feel sorry for you. She's just a woman I used. She bore me a daughter and a son and then I discarded her as a burden."

I truly never imagined that you, Chu Mingkong, would enjoy picking up scraps and eating the leftovers I spat out. I'm ashamed for you! Are used shoes really that comfortable?!

Hahaha, you unfilial son, you think you're so carefree, but I just find you laughable, pathetic, and pathetic!

And Xiao Zhi, you vile woman! Chu Mingkong is just using you to get revenge on me. You're utterly useless; he'll get tired of you and throw you away sooner or later!

And Yunhan, you actually helped Chu Mingkong, an outsider, to deal with your biological father! Do you even know the meaning of filial piety? Your despicable mother and sworn brother are fighting each other—don't you despise them?!

Although Xiao Zhi wanted to refute, she found it difficult to utter a sound...

Her words were offensive and nauseating, a humiliation delivered in front of her son and daughter, yet Xiao Zhi found it difficult to refute or argue her point...

This era has imposed many natural shackles on women: if a husband dies, she is considered a jinx; if a husband divorces her, she is considered a bad wife; if a woman is seduced and then abandoned, she is considered a slut!

A woman who is not a pure virgin and has left the budding years of her youth is always teetering on the edge of a broken shoe.

Whether she was defiled, forced, or married the wrong person, she was still impure. Meanwhile, men who frequented brothels, developed homosexual tendencies, and even swapped maids and concubines for fun had no such worries.

Xiao Zhi, who was usually a noble princess of Xiling, could only grit her teeth and bear it. Her delicate lips were bitten until they bled, and the bright red blood made her lips even more vivid.

Although Xiao Yunhan was right next to him, Chu Mingkong couldn't care less about hiding or being exposed anymore.

He released his grip on the sword, gently extended his hand to the lips of the beautiful Queen Mother, and parted her teeth to stop her from biting her lip.

"Zhi'er, the little rascal in that Buddha statue jar just said he doesn't consider you a treasure..."

Actually, I don't consider you a treasure, I consider you a precious gem! How can you call someone a precious gem? What kind of insult is that?

You are my baby's mother, and I'll say the same thing to anyone else! That guy just said a lot, and I'm tongue-tied for a moment, unable to think of anything to say to help you get revenge. This is all I can say to my little pheasant...

You are who you are, and you won't become worthless because of the evil words of demons and monsters. Why bother with the ant-like words of clowns? In my eyes, you are the bright moon in the sky. My words should be more acceptable to my baby than the evil words of those ants, right?

Live for myself, not for the world.

To put it another way, if you really can't ignore those rumors, then why not just accept them? How good can my reputation be, given that I've murdered an emperor, my clan, and am about to murder my father?

"Aren't we a match made in heaven, mother and child?"

Xiao Zhi was already captivated by Chu Mingkong's few words, her heart fluttering with joy. She gently bit the finger her son had placed between her lips, and shyly and timidly scolded him: